Paulding Farnham, the famed 19^th-century designer for Tiffany & Co., first debuted 24 varieties of his iconic orchid brooches at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1889. Tiffany received the Gold Medal for Jewelry at the exhibition largely due to the success of the enameled orchids which were praised by French and American jewelers and critics alike. The New York Times wrote on March 13, 1889, “Tiffany & Co (has) been studying for two years to bring about a satisfactory result in this direction (enameling) and the outcome thoroughly justifies the labor.” The orchids were also praised in a Jeweler’s Weekly article, stating the orchids to be “so perfectly copied after nature as to inspire unqualified admiration…such fidelity is manifested as temporary to deceive the observer into a belief that real flowers have been placed in the showcases with the jewelry.” The extraordinary popularity of the orchids inspired the firm to increase the number of varieties on offer from 24 to 41 by April of 1890.

The orchid offered here is of the variety Oncidium sphacelatum, a member of the “dancing lady” orchid family. Yellow and orange matte enamel petals are delicately assembled to create a realistic reproduction of the flower and are complemented by a single articulated old mine-cut diamond and diamond-set stem.